Page:History of Oregon Newspapers.pdf/407

398 when he was appointed postmaster in November 1908, he sold the paper to the News Record owners. They conducted both papers for a few years, the Chieftain as a weekly and the News Record as a semi-weekly. Mr. Weathers' predecessor as publisher of the Chieftain had been Carl Roe, who with his partner, L. J. Rouse, had conducted the paper since September, 1896. The Chieftain and the News Record were merged as the Enterprise Record Chieftain, June 15, 1911. George P. Cheney, former Kansas City and Chicago newspaper man, came from Kansas City in November, 1911, and bought the paper, taking possession January 10, 1912. One of Mr. Cheney's first undertakings was construction of a new stone home for the paper, which he occupied in February, 1915. The machinery was moved over the snow in sleds from the old frame quarters.

Mr. Cheney has now been directing the Record Chieftain for a full quarter century. In the beginnings the paper carried half a page of advertising on the front page. The paper is now clear of advertising on page 1. The paper formerly was aggressively Republican. Mr. Cheney has made it independent, "due to opinions of the new owners and changed view of the responsibility of a paper to a community." (154) Local photographs were introduced in 1913 and comics in 1920. From a plant variously estimated from $250 to $500, the plant and paper are now valued at more than $20,000. The paper like some of the other Oregon newspapers, the oldest business institution in its town.

Mr. Cheney, former president of the Oregon Press Conference, changed the name to Chieftain in 1938.

In his salutatory editorial in 1884 Mr. Heckethorn argued for the cutting off of the Wallowa country into a separate county. "Politically," he wrote, "the editor is neutral, and the editorials will be independent."

In another editorial paragraph he said:

"With this issue the editor fulfills his part of the written contract. Those persons who kindly subscribed a loan to aid him in this enterprise, will please come forward and settle, as his financial affairs need repairing."

Something a little different from ordinary in the opening number of the Chieftain was a signed statement from A. W. Gowan, in which he outlined his news policy:

...One word will suffice as to the character of the locals that will appear in these columns having my sanction: Anything of grave, public importance will appear just as correctly as possible under the circumstances; the exact truth will be aimed at. If the broken elements of incidences cannot all be gathered and united at once they can be supplied afterwards, and redundant matter can be eliminated. It must be